In 2016, through nuclear tests and missile launches, North Korea has increased the threat on the Korean Peninsula and the stakes for international cooperation to deter further development. While the United Nations Security Council has implemented a new sanctions regime, critics argue that more effective targets, and pressure on Beijing, as Pyongyang’s largest trading partner, are necessary to initiate real change. International organizations are critical in this process, but regional partnerships and policy coordination are another important tool. In particular, it is beneficial for Japan and the United States, as key allies in Asia, to better align their policies and seek more capable solutions for the North Korean security crisis.

On December 16, the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at Brookings held a public forum that brought together experts from Japan and the United States to present views on North Korea’s goals and behavior, and of the implication for each government’s respective policies. Following the presentations, Richard Bush, director of the Center for East Asia Policy Studies, moderated a panel discussion. At the end of the program, the speakers took audience questions.

[Kim Jong Un's succession and establishing Ri Sol Ju as the mother of the next North Korean leader] In the past his father and grandfather had multiple wives and there was intense jockeying about who was the heir. He knows the regime focuses on bloodlines, and he has Kim Il Sung’s blood in his veins...[Kim Jong Un] is the third Kim. Is he going to be the one that gives up nuclear weapons and makes North Korea beholden to outside powers? I doubt it.